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Many families were reunited with their children at a hospital near the Dead Sea

Details of the victims have not been released although an education ministry official said the students were from a private school, the Jordan Times reported.

The official, who was not named, expressed surprise that a school trip had been organised despite weather warnings.

Heavy rain has been sweeping the region for several days. Some streets in the Jordanian capital, Amman, have been inundated, leading to traffic jams, while large hailstorms have been reported elsewhere.

Thursday's incident is the second tragedy resulting from flash flooding near the Dead Sea this year.